James Rosenquist (1933 – 2017) was born in North Dakota, where he began sketching at a young age after a visit to the Minneapolis Institute of Arts with his mother. His mother’s encouragement of his early interest in art led to his fine art studies at the University of Minnesota, and subsequently to him becoming a leading American Pop artist. 

Drawing on his early experience as a billboard painter and in commercial art, Rosenquist combined imagery from print ads, photographs, and periodicals to create bold, intriguing compositions. His work, which has been described as “visual poetry,” in painting, collage, and printmaking depicting popular imagery and everyday objects helped define the Pop art movement.

Rosenquist, along with his contemporaries including Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein, Claes Oldenburg, radically changed the face of the art world and the annals of art history. 

His work is included in major public and private institutions, and has been featured in solo exhibitions at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, Museum of Modern Art, Walker Art Center, Whitney Museum of American Art, Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, The Menil Collection, The Museum of Fine Arts Houston, Denver Art Museum, Tretyakov Gallery, Museum Ludwig, Wallraf-Richartz Museum, and other national and international institutions.